Moving Forward
by Aria-pon
Summary: A girl comes to Seido to find what she had lost... Takashima Rina comes back from America and becomes a manager for Seido High School's baseball team. Behind her energetic and cheerful nature, she hides a pain a few of the boys may understand. Friendship blossoms between her and the team but they also show her something that might be able to help her get back up. Slightly OOCish.
1. Chapter 1

Hey guys! I hope you'll like my first attempt on a fanfic. This was inspired mainly of course by Ace of Diamond, but it is also inspired from my experiences as an athlete and as a daughte of a man who coaches various sports. The story might sound stiff or it might even be cliche but I do hope this comes out nice. I'd definitely appreciate it if you could give comments and suggestions to further improve the plot. I'll be thanking you guys in advance and well, that would be all for now.

Note: I decided to edit stuff from the beginning. So this one here is the edited version. I hope it's a lot better than what I had first published (for those who read the first version).

Sawamura was well, kinda ignored (or I accidentally made him shut up /slapped) in this chapter but he'll be a lot noisier in the following ones since I originally plan for the OC to have a lot of interactions with the first year trio. As for the romance part, I'm still cloudy whether she'll end up with one of the certain second year regulars.

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><p>A brunette made her way to Seido High's baseball fields. Her hair was tied into low twin tails and she wore a blue long sleeved shirt under jumper shorts. By her appearance you'd think she was just a fan that came to watch the team practice, but that wasn't her case. She went beyond the fence that separated the team from their supporters. She had entered the area occupied by the fields and facilities that surrounded it.<p>

As she was going to pass by the bullpen her feet suddenly halted. A certain noisy pitcher had caught her attention. She quietly observed him and soon, you could see sparks of interest in her eyes. No longer able to contain herself, she called out to the men in the bullpen.

"Excuse me! Can I try hitting one off that guy?" While she directed the question to the catcher, she took a finger out and pointed it out to the loud brunette boy. She was now met with confused stares. "Huh? Who the heck are you?" The young pitcher retorted. "Is there something we can help you with miss?" Standing from his sitting position, the catcher asked the girl this.

Suddenly snapping out from the excitement that had been slowly welling up inside her, the girl introduced herself "My bad. I'm Takashima Rina and I came here looking for someone, but… we can put that aside for now. I really want to try hitting his pitches. Can't I?" The girl looked at the two with begging eyes, almost making them give in to her request. But before she actually could a female voice called out her name "Rina!?"

The three present in the bullpen looked at the direction where the voice came from. The girl suddenly dashed and leapt in for a hug once she recognized the person who called out her name "Rei-nee!" It was the person she was looking for, Takashima Rei.

"What are you doing here? I thought you were supposed to arrive tomorrow?"

"Hihi! I wanted to surprise you because it's been so long since the last time I came back here in Japan."

While the two ladies where given confused looks, the older woman showed a gentle smile and continued speaking "If you're here already you should have went straight to me. What are you even doing here in the bullpen? You shouldn't bother with the players' practice. Of all people, you should be aware of that." Rina replied "I know, I know. But you see, that boy's pitching is an interesting one."

The girl's statement brought another smile to Rei's face. "Excuse me Takashima-sensei but…" The catcher that Rina had been talking to just a while ago interrupted the reunion. "Chris-kun, you can continue with your practice. We'll have the introductions later. Rina, let's go and greet the coach."

"Okay!" Rina energetically replied. The two started walking away from the battery but just before they reached a too long distance, Rina looked back and waved her hand "Bye bye! See you later!"


	2. Chapter 2

Hey guys. So I'm back with this new and improved chapter two with it being more detailed than the previous one. I hope this is easier to imagine and more understandable. Tell me btw if you want a character profile for Rina so I can decide whether to make one or not. Well then, I hope you enjoy this chapter and please tell me your thoughts about it.

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><p>It was evening already and the players were eating dinner at the canteen. It was quite the noisy environment as the boys had a topic of discussion. Surprisingly though it was not about baseball. The talk of the night was none other than the unfamiliar brunette that was with the team's assistant director this afternoon.<p>

"Hyahaa! Miyuki did you see the girl Rei-chan was with earlier? She was quite the cutie. I wonder what her relationship with Rei-chan is." The shortstop babbled showing his great interest in the girl.

"Yeah, she's probably a new manager or something." Miyuki replied in an uninterested tone.

"That girl…" Sawamura pausing before he continued his words "Said my pitching was awesome!" The boy had a smug look in his face only to be jeered by his senpais with Chris backing them up.

"She didn't say your pitching was 'awesome'. She only said it was 'interesting' Sawamura." Chris retorted to Sawamura's earlier statement.

"Chris-senpai!"

"Huh!? Oi, Sawamura. When did that happen? Huh!" Kuramochi asked in an intimidating tone. To think than an outsider and a girl at that took interest in his idiotic kouhai.

"It was this afternoon in the bullpen. Actually, she even challenged Sawamura." Chris replied to Kuramochi as he continued with his meal quietly.

"Hm… She sounds like a really interesting girl." Ryousuke commented while a smirk had made its way on his face as if he was planning something. He then continued "So, did she say anything about herself?"

"The only thing she said was she was Takashima-sensei's niece. Before we could ask her anything else, she was taken away by her aunt to greet the coach."

The team had a uniform reaction of surprise in their faces. They didn't actually expect the girl to be Rei-chan's niece. But now that they think about it, those who had a clear look on the girl's face saw the resemblance she had with the assistant director.

"Haha! She's Rei-chan's niece. No wonder she'd take interest in Sawamura's pitching." Miyuki sniggered at the revelation.

Some of the boys started getting eager and the chattering increased. They started imagining the possibilities and meaning of the girl's visit to Seido. Although soon enough, all the noise dissolved as the girl in question was now in the premises. Heads turned their way to look at her as the silence went on.

"It looks like I won't have to call their attention. Go ahead Rina." Rei patted her niece on the shoulder giving her the go signal to speak.

"Uhm, good evening everyone… I hope I'm not intruding in on your meal but I'm here to introduce myself. I'm Takashima Rina, Takashima Rei's niece. I came back from America and starting today, I'll be staying here in the dorms until the rest of my stay in Seido. Also, starting tomorrow is my official duties as a manager of the team. So from now on, I hope we can get along." Rina said as she bowed her head afterwards.

The boys who were currently eating (and chatting) put down their chopsticks and stood up. They all greeted her welcome and then went back to continue eating. Rina on the other hand, looked back towards her Rei and gave her a smile.

"Rina-chan! Wanna eat with us? Here, have a seat." The green-haired shortstop offered the spot next to him, signaling the start his subtle moves on the girl.

Rina gave Rei one last good look. "Well then, it's time I take my leave. Remember the things we told you Rina, alright?"

"Roger!" She saluted to Rei as the older woman turned her back and walked away. When Rei was beyond the doors Rina turned back to Kuramochi and replied "Thank you but I already finished eating earlier. Though, I'll take up on the offer of sitting with you guys." Rina motioned towards the table where Kuramochi, Miyuki and a few others were sitting.

"So Rina-chan, we heard you challenged Sawamura earlier? You're one amusing girl." The older Kominato pointed out with his signature smile on his face.

"Ah! I completely forgot about that. Hey Sawamura-kun, once your finish eating let's continue where we left of earlier in the afternoon. Let's meet up thirty minutes after to give you some time to digest your food."

After a few moments of thinking Sawamura came to a conclusion on his answer to Rina's challenge. "You're on! Miyuki-senpai catch for me." Sawamura demanded.

"This sounds fun so I'm in." Miyuki had a smug grin on his face showing how he loved developments like this.

_._._._._

The boys then finished their meals quickly, setting aside all the small talk for later. Thirty minutes had now passed and most of the regulars were out on the field. They were watching on the side to witness the showdown between Sawamura and Rina.

"I want to pitch as well." Furuya swung his arms in circular motion.

"Furuya-kun." Haruichi tried to stop him.

While Sawamura and Miyuki were warming up, Rina was fixing the protective gear she had put on for precautions. Once finished, she stood inside the batter's box and explained a few conditions she had:

"One, because I'm a girl you have to grip the ball lightly."

"Two, three strikes and I'm out."

"Three, if I ever get a hit off you Sawamura-kun I get to catch your pitches for one time. If I can't get a hit, I'll do anything you say."

The third condition surprised almost everyone present at the moment. Does she play baseball, or perhaps softball they all wondered. Why'd she want to catch his balls anyway? She was a confident girl, that all of them were sure of.

Back to the three, Sawamura was reluctant to grip the ball lightly as he found it unfair but Chris ordered him to.

"You sure you want to continue Rina-chan? If you really observed his pitches, you know that you can't get a clean hit easily. A girl like you can't possible pull it off." Miyuki taunted the girl in front of him but she ignored the catcher. Taking her stance, ready to bat she whispered a few words "We'll see about that. You can't judge a book by its cover."

"Shouldn't you be stopping her?" A man with shades asked the lady standing beside him.

"If I did, she'd probably do something more extreme. I'll let her away with tonight but if she ever pushes herself I'll have no choice but to send her back. In any case, I'll have someone to keep an eye on her activities." And then Rei sighed at the sight of her niece standing in the batter's box.

The first pitch, she swung and missed. Rina stayed relaxed nevertheless. She took a deep breath and focused. Taking a good look at the ball flying towards her, she swung once again.

CLANK!

The sound of the ball making contact with her bat was heard. She fouled off the ball. Whistles were heard from the bystanders. It was now Sawamura's third pitch. Rina didn't make a move so it was a strike. One more and the challenge will be over.

Miyuki placed his mat in the middle of the plate. The bespectacled boy thought, 'She can't possibly hit this. So Sawamura, give me your best shot.'

Rina took another deep breath, stood in position with great focus in her eyes. Sawamura on the other hand, gripped the ball lightly yet making sure that it was enough to throw a good pitch. He started with his motion and now the ball was flying towards Miyuki's glove. But then…

CLANK!

Rina made contact. She didn't foul it. Sadly, it was a pop fly. If there were actual fielders she'd definitely be out. "Noooo!" was the only word that came out of Rina's mouth as she knelt to the ground not wanting to accept her loss. "And I was so close."

"Hahaha! It's my win." Sawamura jumped up and down happily.

"Nice try." was all that Miyuki said.

"Oh shut up!" Rina retorted.

The others who were watching walked up to them, with some having questions they wanted answers to.

"Me too." Furuya said as he held a ball in his hand.

"Oi Takashima! Do play baseball, or maybe softball?" Isashiki Jun asked.

"Oh, I used to play baseball when I was young. Now I play a different sport… well not right now though." muttering her last few words so that they won't hear it clearly.

"Your position?" It was Kuramochi who inquired next.

"Miyuki." Rina said which brought her confused stares. After a few moments of processing though, they understood what she meant.

"So that's why you wanted to catch Sawamura's pitches." Ryousuke pointed out.

"Uhm, what sport do you play now?" A shy pink-haired boy asked the brunette.

"About that…" Rina trailed off. "Hey guys, I'm really tired now so let's leave the talk about me for tomorrow kay?" She took of the gear she was wearing and hurriedly went off to her room leaving all the guys standing there.

"What's with her?" Sawamura exclaimed.

"Dunno." was all that Kuramochi said.

"She's just probably tired." Chris remarked.

"She could be a good edition to the team." The team captain who was almost silent all the time of the happening suddenly spoke up.

"Oi Tetsu! Are you serious? What the fuck are you saying? She can't probably become a member of the team. She's a girl, remember?" Jun retaliated.

"No. She could." Sawamura declared, earning him a kick from Kuramochi and a chop from Ryousuke with an 'Idiot' coming from Miyuki.

"Eijun-kun…" Even Haruichi sighed at his friend and Furuya shook his head in disagreement.

"WHAT!?" Sawamura yelled wondering what he said wrong to deserve all this pity and abuse.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3 everyone! I don't know but I feel that this was poorly done. It should have been better but I guess fatigue from the holidays are affecting me a lot.

To the person who asked what Rina's age is, it's 16 yrs. old and I guess you're right. What I'll be figuring out is how to introduce Rina to you guys instead of making a character profile. That could probably come later if someone can make her character design. (I would make it if I only have better skills and motivation :P)

What I really need now is some strict criticism and suggestion to make this story better but for now I hope this chapter gets you even more hooked to my story. Thank you guys and an advanced Happy New Year!

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><p>The following morning, Rei had called for a few of the players while making sure her niece was still asleep. The group included Tetsu, Jun, Ryosuke, Chris, Miyuki, Kuramochi, Haruichi, and Kanemaru. It was a rare combination indeed but it was because the matter at hand was nothing trivial.<p>

"Is something the matter Takashima-sensei?" Tetsuya asked.

"It's about Rina… I have a favor to ask all of you." A short silence filled the office they were in then the lady continued with her words. "I'll let last night's happening pass, but... if she ever pulls something like that again report it to me at once. Also, I want you to keep a close eye on her actions."

"That's no problem but can we know why?" It was Jun who inquired.

"The truth is, she's here because of certain situations back in America. I'm in no position to reveal it to you. She should be the one to talk to you boys about it. For now, she shouldn't be pushing herself. So can I leave it to you to watch over her?"

"Yes ma'am!"

_._._._._

The boys headed to the canteen to get some breakfast. Upon entering Rina was already there eating with Sawamura and Furuya.

"Ah! Good morning!" She shot up from her seat and greeted the group of boys energetically. There was a slight hint of awkwardness floating in the air. They were still processing what Rei said earlier while being heavily curious on Rina's reasons for coming to Seido. Some thought of it last night already. If the girl was the assistant director's niece, then wouldn't it be better for Rina to stay with her aunt. The silence was starting to drag until one pink-haired broke the quietude.

"Good morning Rina-chan." Now each and everyone included in Rina's 'watchers' started returning the brunette's morning greeting. They then finally went to get food and took a sit at where they preferred while each of them trying to act naturally around Rina.

_._._._._

Weeks have passed and Rina has been doing great in her stay in Seido. She's in the same class as Sawamura and Kanemaru and has been doing wonderful in it. The teacher's have been praising her a lot. She also has no trouble with her duties as manager. In fact, she's been doing too good that those assigned to keep watch on her don't even need to do their job. Or so they thought…

Since the start of her stay in Seido, Rina had nights when she couldn't sleep. She was stressing herself and thinking too much during those times. But tonight was different. It was the night after Seido's practice game against Kiryuu and Sawamura's pitching sparked something in her. She was aware that Sawamura was somewhat in a probationary status and the scene of him standing on the mound, having a hard time but learning at the end of the game gave her back some of the confidence she had been losing.

Unable to contain the excitement, Rina took off her sleeping garments and changed into her jogging attire. She wore a pair of shorts, a t-shirt, and a jacket over the shirt. She tied her hair into a ponytail and slipped a supporter on her right knee. Finally, she put on her jogging shoes and went out of her room.

She quietly and sneakily went out so no one would notice her. If they ever find out that she had been jogging every night she couldn't sleep, she'd be totally sent back. She had no specific course when she jogs. She just goes around the whole training facility randomly while trying to keep out of the players' eyes.

Just when she thought tonight's jog was going to end smoothly, she closes in on the training ground A only to hear and find two certain pitchers, a loud-mouthed one and the other with a stoic personality.

She stopped in her tracks and tried to quietly walk pass them while ducking to avoid making them notice her. She was sure that these two were clueless and not involved in her case but just to be safe. A few more steps and Rina was almost out of their sights but the girl then felt a sudden sharp pain in her knee.

"Ouch!" She winced in pain and started whimpering. She strained her knee too much tonight, jogging longer than she usually does plus bending her knees to duck did not help.

"Did you hear that?" Furuya asked.

"H… h… hear what?" A slightly scared Sawamura returned his fellow first year's question.

"That whimpering sound…" Furuya then looked around to check if anyone or anything was there.

"Oi Furuya! You're just trying to scare me so that I'll leave and you can have MY tire all to yourself. If you think you can fool me then-"

"Look over there Sawamura." Sawamura then looked over to the direction Furuya pointed to. They saw a hand on the fence and Sawamura went pale. He screamed loudly in fear but was ignored by Furuya. He went up to the hand and found Rina trying to make herself stand up but was only met with pain every time she attempted to.

"It's not a ghost. It's Takashima-san." Sawamura stopped screaming and then scurried to the two.

"What's wrong?" Sawamura asked with a concerned look on his face. Rina could only look down at the ground. This was the worst. She was just trying to stop running away anymore but she was met with mortification.

She tried standing up on her own while ignoring the two boys at the other side of the fence. But to no success as she only felt pain surge through her body. The two boys then quickly ran to her side and asked her if she was alright. Rina shook her head from side to side. Tears were already overflowing from her eyes. This prompted the Sawamura and Furuya to help her up. They each placed an arm over their shoulders and slowly heaved her up.

Rina whispered a 'Thank you' and asked them if they could bring her to her room. She also requested that they went through the back so no one would easily notice them while promising to tell them her 'condition'.

While walking to her room, Rina let out a small sigh. '_I'm already in this situation. I just hope nobody else finds out about me anymore._' The girl hoped strongly but it was pointless. Coming back from his swinging practice, Haruichi caught sight of the three.

"Harucchi!" Sawamura exclaimed. When Rina looked up she had a slightly surprised look on her face but the expression soon changed. She bit her lower lip and showed a discontented look on her face. She already figured out why the young pink-haired boy had a troubled look.

"So you're one of them…" she muttered. Even though Haruichi was supposed to report Rina's current state, he was hesitating. He couldn't bear the pained look the girl had been making.

"Rina-san… I" The two's conversation were then cut off by the black-haired boy who had been silent for some time now.

"What are you two talking about?" Furuya inquired. Rina shifted her gaze to him and forced a smile on her face. She then turned to Sawamura and did the same before finally turning to Haruichi.

"Haru-chan, will you come to my room as well? I'll tell you everything there then you can decide whether or not to tell Rei-nee." Haruichi nodded and followed the three from behind.


	4. Chapter 4

You're seeing correctly... A new chapter. With all the free time I have left before school resumes, I'm trying to update this as much as I can. No worries to the story's plot thought cause even if I seem like I'm rushing things, I've already drafted the flow of the story which makes it easier for me to write even with the little time I have. I'll have one last chapter finished before Jan. 5 then I won't be able to update anytime soon anymore.

Well then, thank you so far and I wish you all a Happy New Year!

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><p>The sight of Rina eating breakfast together with the first year trio was not unfamiliar. But there was definitely something different to the atmosphere around them and at an enough distance people had been keenly observing them.<p>

"Were they this close?" Kuramochi wondered.

"Huh? They always eat together, those three. What's wrong Kuramochi?" Jun retorted.

"You're just probably tired. Will you be alright in today's game?" Miyuki taunted the shortstop.

"Actually, Kuramochi's right. Something's different." Ryousuke pointed out.

"Ryo-san…" A smirk made its way to Ryousuke's face.

"Well, we have two practice games today so I guess we'll just have leave things for later. I'll ask Haruichi what's going on later tonight." The pink-haired third year stated as a devious aura started emitting from him.

_._._._._

It was now the game between Seido and Shuhoku and Tanba is at-bat. Rina's eyes sparkled as she watched by the sides.

"_This team really is awesome!_" she thought to herself. The hard work and effort they put into their training was inspiring that she wholeheartedly wants to support them in whatever way she can. Not with just her duties as the manager, as it is given that their job is to help the team. But she wanted to do a little more extra.

Gripping the fence harder than ever, Rina focused on the battle between Tanba and Shuhoku's pitcher. Little did she know the tragic incident about to happen…

_._._._._

And there it was. Tanba was on the ground. The ball had hit his face. Rina went pale. As if all the energy she had in her disappeared, her hand that was on the fence fell down to her side.

"…" she struggled to find her voice. Even if she had wanted to scream, the horror of what just happened rendered her speechless. Rina went back to her room trembling. Although she was well aware that accidents like this are unavoidable in sports, she was always overwhelmed by fear especially when she had already experienced the same thing.

A meeting was held the following day. The whole team's spirit was down. Even if the ace number was given to the third year, with him not possibly making it to the summer tournament was undeniably disheartening.

Before the boys went back to class, Rei had approached the younger Kominato.

"Kominato-kun, how has Rina been doing?" She asked him this knowing that her niece had been spending a lot of time with him and the other two first years.

"She's as shocked as we are about Tanba-senpai." Rei sighed.

"She's probably better off back in America." the woman whispered. She let out a thank you before turning her back on Haruichi.

_._._._._

Later that evening, Rei visited Rina's room. She knocked thrice on the door. There was no reply. Rei sighed.

"Rina, you're in there aren't you? Open the door." Rei softly demanded but inside, Rina just clenched the pillow she had been embracing harder and buried her face deep in it. It was no use so Rei decided to tell her what she had to say behind the door.

"I think it's better if you went back to America. We initially brought you back here in Japan to let you have a break in order to relieve you of all the stress you've started to build up there… But because of yesterday's incident I don't know if Seido has the right environment you need anymore. Al least you can continue your rehabilitation when you go back." She tried coaxing her niece with the last statement but Rina just shook her head.

She didn't want to think about anything right now. Why did her aunt have to bring that up. She stayed silent refusing to reply. Rei tried to wait a few more minutes longer but soon gave up. She left Rina alone to give her some time to calm herself down.

Once she was sure Rei was no longer there, Rina slipped into her jogging attire and quietly sneaked out. She spent the night wandering around the school premises to make sure that no one will really find her out.

Eventually, dawn came and Rina didn't sleep a wink. As she went back to her room early in the morning Kuramochi came across her.

"Rina-chan, your attire…" Kuramochi narrowed his eyes on the girl and continued "Did you go for an early morning jog?"

"Yeah, something like that." Rina answered, looking away from Kuramochi then continued to walk towards her room though the moment she passed by the green—haired boy, she lost consciousness.

"Oi Rina-chan!" The shortstop successfully caught the brunette "Are you alright? Oi Rina-chan!?" He tried calling out to her many times but she didn't wake up. Kuramochi decided to bring Rina to her room and afterwards, he went to call for Rei and a few more others.

When Haruichi found out about what happened to Rina he immediately told Sawamura and Furuya. The three hurriedly went to the girl's room.

"Rina are you alright!" Sawamura shouted as he entered the room.

"Be quiet you idiot!" Kuramochi tackled him to the ground and locked him into one of his wrestling moves.

"Both of you keep quiet." A soft yet stern voice scolded them. It came from Chris.

"Is she alright?" Furuya asked showing his concern for the brunette who was lying on the bed.

"She just fell asleep." Ryousuke said as he looked over Rina. "But her knee is swelling."

The three boys were surprised. They took a good look at her and saw the clothes she was wearing.

"Don't tell me she…" Eijun who was immediately released by Kuramochi earlier trailed off with his words.

"You guys know something don't you?" Miyuki indicated.

"We don't know anything!" Eijun tried to stubbornly declare.

"Haruichi." Ryousuke called his brother's name in a serious tone in an attempt to make him tell.

"Aniki… we" He paused for a moment but continued "don't know anything."

"Haruichi, you suck at lying." Ryosuke pointed this out and Haruichi whined.

While the others tried to make the stubborn three talk, Rina finally woke up. She raised a hand to her forehead as she had a slight headache. She sat up and looked around her room to see that a lot of people where present.

"Rei-nee, everyone, what are you guys doing here?" Rina asked as she tried to get up from the bed. Sadly, the moment she took a step with her right foot, her knee gave in and she almost fell down if not only for Kuramochi who had swiftly caught her.

A light shade of pink painted the brunette's cheeks as she uttered a soft 'Thank you.' The second year helped her sit on the bed.

"Rina, you are so…" The continuation of Rei's scolding was cut-off when Rina tried to smile trying to show that she was alright.

"Sorry Rei-nee, everyone as well. I caused you trouble during such a period. Sunday's incident just shocked me so much I almost broke down." The girl gave out a weak laugh while she had an apologetic face.

"Takashima, your knee…" Jun tried to inquire on the condition of the girl's knee.

"Jun-senpai" Rina paused for a moment "Call me Rina!" she demanded.

"I want everyone to call me Rina. You can add '-chan', '-san', or if you don't have the balls to call me by my first name call me 'Empress.'"

"Empress?" Everyone present in Rina's room except for Rei, Haruichi, Sawamura, and Furuya all said in chorus.

"Yep, Empress." Rina had a smug expression on her face. "Well then, the one sitting over there..." She pointed a finger to Miyuki who was sitting on the chair of her study desk. "Can you pass me the spray on top of my desk?" Miyuki motioned to grab what Rina was asking for and handed it to her. It was a cooling spray that helped relieve the swelling in her knee.

"Now, that's better." Rina's face lit up now that the pain she was feeling earlier had started to dissipate. "On to the real topic… Rei-nee and I need to talk about something so can you guys leave us to ourselves for the moment?" Rina then looked at three certain people and nodded to them with a smile on her face.

"Haru-chan, Sacchan, and Ei-chan will tell you everything." She attempted to stand up again and this time she was successful. Rina bowed her head to Kuramochi, Miyuki, Chris, Jun, and Ryousuke. "I'm really sorry."

All the eight boys went to get some breakfast afterwards. There, the three first years will tell them what they found out three nights ago.


	5. Chapter 5

Hi guys! So I failed uploading this before my school started again but never mind that anymore...

This chapter may have been predictable and I know that my writing here kinda sucks so I'm really sorry. The text in italics by the way are sort of a flashback. Although I wanted to make it longer but I had to make do with this instead. All of the things I wanted to include in this chapter but couldn't will definitely be placed in bonus/side chapter(s) which will follow this one because I want to relax my mind before giving this story a bigger development. I hope you can follow Moving Forward till the end but if you want improvements as we go along, please do give me opinions/suggestions/remarks/comments etc... Anything helpful will be appreciated.

My longest chapter so far, I hope you enjoy ;)

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><p>"Hey otoutou-kun, what's up with Rina-chan's 'Empress' thing earlier?" Kuramochi asked his partner's younger brother as they were gathered in one table, eating breakfast together with the others who were present in Rina's room earlier. Haruichi gave out a weak laugh.<p>

"I think it's better if we explained things from the start." The pink-haired first year then looked at Sawamura and Furuya then gave them a nod.

"The night after our practice game with Kiryuu, Furuya and I were out on the ground for a run." Sawamura started.

"Oh, that night where you two were fighting over a tire." Miyuki and Kuramochi snickered.

"You saw that Miyuki-senpai?" Furuya asked. Miyuki only had an irritating and smug look on his face.

"Well then, continue." Ryousuke ordered. Sawamura complied with a slightly discontented look on his face.

"Furuya then heard whimpering sounds and went to check it out. In one corner of the ground, on the other side of the fence Rina was there." Sawamura looked to Furuya to continue telling what happened.

"She was trying to stand up but she couldn't. She was crying in pain. We ran over to her to help her up. She then asked us to bring her back to her room quietly."

"Oi Miyuki, Kuramochi, you didn't see that happen?" Jun directed the question to the two second years.

"Who'd want to watch to idiots fight over a tire Jun-san." Kuramochi retorted. Isashiki was convinced. Haruichi continued with the rest of the story.

"When they were taking Rina-chan back to her room that was when I saw them. I was also on my way back from practicing my swing. She instantly knew that I was one of the people whom Takashima-sensei asked to keep an eye on her. She told me to follow them to her room because she said explain everything to us there."

_._._._._

_Haruichi opened the door to Rina's room and the other two helped her take a seat on the bed. Rina sighed as she settled into a comfortable position. The twin-tailed girl then asked for the cold spray on her desk. The one she uses for instant pain relief before taking any painkiller medicines. She gave out another sigh and stood up afterwards to place the cold spray back to where it was. She then returned to her bed._

"_Do you guys remember my first night here?" The girl softly asked._

"_Yeah. I remember it well cause it was the night I beat you after you challenged me."Sawamura had no ill intentions but it certainly insulted Rina a bit, earning him a glare from the girl. She then glanced over to all three of them then started speaking. Her eyes began to shine._

"_I said I used to play baseball but now I play a different sport right?" pausing for a moment before she continued. "I shifted to playing tennis during fourth grade. My dad was hired at this tennis club and took me with him whenever I had no classes. One of his clients asked if I wanted to try playing and well, taking after my dad who loved playing different kinds of sport, I excitedly nodded my head. Surprisingly, I had the talent so dad started to train me vigorously and once I was thirteen yrs. old I started competing in the Junior Circuit in order to raise my rank." The girl speaking was suddenly cut off by a question coming from Sawamura._

"_What's a Junior Circuit?" Rina chuckled. 'Of course they'd be clueless.' she thought to herself. The brunette then proceeded with explaining._

"_The Junior Circuit is a series of international tournaments for successful and national standard players. Kids from 13-18 yrs. old who play in these tournaments get the chance to raise their world ranking which helps if you want to go pro. Oh! And by 'successful and national standard', it simply means that you've shown results in national tournaments. I've dominated in a few so I had no problem in my legibility for the Junior Circuit. In fact…" Rina then gave them a smug smile as she proudly declared her rank without them even asking._

"_At my young age, I dominated over older players and became the World's no. 1 Juniors Girl player!" She exclaimed but soon after that the sparkle in her eyes started to fade._

"_Or that was until 'this' happened." gesturing to her knee to give the three boys an idea._

"_During my last Major tournament, I was so hell bent on winning that I took training to extremes without my dad and other coaching staff knowing which resulted into a serious knee injury. And during the finals where I was losing one set, I was so desperate in returning the ball so I jumped for it but when I landed my knee finally gave out. Luckily I didn't need surgery but I got so depressed that I just lost my way." Tears were building up in Rina's brown eyes. She tried to hold them back no longer wanting to shed tears in front of Haruichi, Sawamura, and Furuya._

"_So much for being called an 'Empress of the Court'. They'd be surprised to find out I'm such a crybaby." she said as she forced herself to laugh. She then wiped away the tears that have yet to fall and finished the whole story._

"_So they decided I needed some time on my own but since I'll definitely be bothered back home, they sent me here. And because I really wanted a new environment, I selfishly requested to live here in the dorms. At least this way, Rei-nee could still supervise me." There and then, Sawamura who tried keeping all his reactions at bay finally let it all out._

"_So you're telling us you're a world champion and you even have a nickname like 'Empress of the Court'!?"_

"_Yep." Rina nonchalantly shrugged at Sawamura._

"_Well then, can I ask questions?" Putting on a serious look, Rina stared into one particular boy's eyes. Or to be exact, she simply stared at him because she can't look into his eyes when his bangs are covering them. Haruichi gulped air and nodded cautiously, giving Rina permission to interrogate him._

"_Why did Haru-chan comply with Rei-nee's request to keep an eye on me?"_

"_Eh?" Haruichi was caught off guard by the question. He didn't expect that one coming but he could only answer honestly. "That's because Takashima-sensei asked us to. Of course we couldn't turn down a request from a sensei and one of the higher ups of the team."_

"_I see…" were the only words Rina could mutter. Obviously hurt but it was an understandable reason. She tried to smile it off._

"_I should have probably opened up to you guys sooner but for now I hope we can all keep this a secret from the rest. I don't want to go back yet! You could say that I'm trying to run away from my own problems back in America by making this an excuse but I want to support you guys. I've finally started gaining back my determination and confidence when watching you guys play so please… I want to return it to the whole team."_

"_Rina-chan." Haruichi gently said her name._

"_Come one Harucchi, let's keep it a secret for her." Sawamura tried to convince his friend._

"_How about this, let's make her promise to stop going out at night." Furuya suggested._

"_Eh? That might be impossible. Don't you know the saying that 'Old habits die hard.'?" Rina whined and Haruichi sighed. "Then you have to promise to call us whenever you're going out."_

"_Then how about this, I promise I won't go out at night anymore but when you guys go out for some late night practice you definitely have to call me." Rina suggested her own idea. The three boys looked at each other and smiled._

"_Okay then." Haruichi replied._

"_Thank you Haru-chan, Ei-chan, Sacchan!" and a big grin was on the brunette's face._

_._._._._

Almost all of them had a uniform expression. Mouths were open, eyes grew wide and they were left speechless. But that was a second ago because…

"Wai- WHAT!? Are you saying that Rina-chan's some world class tennis player!?" Kuramochi shouted which transferred their feelings of shock to the other members present in the canteen eating breakfast as well. To think that their manager who transferred to their school one month after the academic year started, who was also niece of their club's assistant director although a different sport, plays on a whole different level compared to them. Even Miyuki and the third years were taken aback by this revelation.

"But she doesn't look like she's a world champion." Isashiki remarked.

"She told us _power play_ isn't her style that's why she's slim." Sawamura shared. When he tried to complete the information "Uhm, she said her style was… what was it again?"

"_Serve and Volley._" Furuya answered.

"What's that?" Kuramochi asked and Haruichi explained.

"We don't know exactly but she just told us that she likes putting pressure on her opponents and make them chase after the ball." The whole table was confused with all the tennis talk. Why the hell in the world would they know about a sport they don't play? But one person was finding amusement in all this. Seems like he found a new partner…

"So that's why she's an 'Empress'." Ryousuke concluded.

"To think that Rina-chan was someone like that… Even I didn't notice. I thought she was good with the bat cause of her past baseball experience but really, that girl is just as amusing as Sawamura. Right, Chris-senpai?" Miyuki snickering at the thought asked Chris for his opinion.

"So, we're kinda similar." Chris pointed out.

"Chris-senpai…" The boys went silent.

"Hm? What's with those dark faces? Did I really worry you guys too much?" A girl who stood close to their table with a large grin on her face said.

"Rina!" Sawamura stood up from his seat and greeted the girl with a big grin on his face.

"What did you talk about with Rei-chan?" Miyuki inquired.

"I'm staying. I explained everything and Rei-nee said she won't send me back home but she's still gonna go and tell my dad." Rina reported with slightly red cheeks, a bit embarrassed about the whole matter.

"You can still help me with my Stamina Roll?" Furuya eagerly asked.

"Yep! And in fact…" The girl scanned over the table to look for the person she was looking for.

"I already got permission from Rei-nee and Coach Kataoka. All I need now is yours, Chris-senpai. Will you let me help you prepare those two over there for the tournament?" As she motioned over to Sawamura and Furuya, the determined look in Rina's eyes caused Chris to give a small and fleeting smile.

"I'm counting on you then."

"Wait a minute. Why the heck am I out of this talk?" Miyuki brought up.

"Huh? But I thought Kazu-chan already approved of me so I didn't ask your permission." Rina replied.

"I don't recall anything like that. And don't call me Kazu-chan." A slightly irked Miyuki retorted.

"How cruel Kazu-chan. I thought you acknowledged my abilities during my first night here, the night where Ei-chan and I had a showdown." Rina faked that she was hurt by Miyuki's words, acting as if she was on the verge of tears.

"Miyuki made Rina-chan cry. You're gonna get it from Rei-chan later. Hyahaha!" Kuramochi teased his fellow second year.

As Rina sniffled she proposed "If you want then we can have a match as well but we change places. Kazu-chan stands in the batter's box while I catch for hmmm…" Rina thought for a while on who she was gonna pick as the pitcher. "Sacchan's pitching is too strong, Ei-chan could be good, but Nori-senpai as well… Hmmm" The boys waited in silent anticipation for Rina's decision.

"I've decided! I'm gonna go with Nori-senpai."

"Hey, hey! Don't get too ahead of yourself. I haven't even agreed to this yet." Miyuki yet again made Rina fake that she was hurt.

"There you go again Miyuki, making Rina-chan cry like that. If you don't want to go through all this then why don't you just approve of her. You did acknowledge that she was good with the bat earlier." Ryousuke sneaked into the conversation. Miyuki was finally cornered.

"Alright, alright!"

"Thanks Kazu-chan!" Rina happily cried.

"Just don't call me 'Kazu-chan' anymore, please?" Rina shaked her head and replied "Eh? I don't wanna." and the girl stuck her tongue out and pulled down her lower eyelid. Then she ran out to escape.

"Rina! What about breakfast?" Haruichi asked.

"Rei-nee said she's taking me to the hospital. I'll eat on our way back. Thanks anyway. See you later!"

"It kinda reminds you of when we first met her doesn't it, Sawamura?" Chris remarked.

"Yes!"


	6. Chapter 5 (Omake)

Aria: Hey guys! This may sound sudden but Rina-chan wanted to hear answers…

Kuramochi: Answers?

Aria: Yep, answers.

Rina: Aria-chan, wait a minute…

Aria: Hm? But you said this has been on your mind lately.

Rina: Yeah well… But then I realized how embarrassing it is to ask them.

Ryosuke: Can you two ladies enlighten us with what you're talking about?

Aria: Ah! Ryo-chan-senpai… Sorry, sorry :P

Rina said she just wanted to know why you guys agreed with Rei-chan's request regarding her.

Ryosuke: Well, mine would be obvious. I thought it would be interesting to observe her… She actually exceeded my expectations.

Kuramochi: …

Miyuki: Ah! I'm the same as Ryo-san.

Jun: It was because Takashima-sensei asked us to.

Tetsu: We couldn't turn down her request so easily.

-Rina gets slightly depressed.-

Rina: Haru-chan said the similar thing before as well. T_T

Chris: But we were really caught off guard. You did too well in hiding your injury from us.

Rina: Chris-senpai… I'm sorry.

Chris: Just promise you won't push yourself too hard. I don't want you to go through anything I went through.

*Pats Rina on the head.*

Rina: Chris-senpai!

_Aria: (Actually a brother-sister sort of relationship blossomed between them. Having gone through similar situations and spending time training Eijun and Satoru together, a special bond is undeniably there.)_

Aria: But well, I know very much you feel Rina-chan so don't worry. Let's work hard together! I'll even treat you to ice cream.

Rina: Rather than ice cream, please continue on with the story… =_=

Aria: I can't help it. I'm stressed with my real life. But fine, I'll try to make an effort and release new chapters as soon as possible. Till then, bye~!


	7. Chapter 6

Goodness! The end of this chapter feels like bleh! I've been experiencing a lot of fatigue lately due to school work and it kinda affected my writing. Well, this is just a bonus chapter so I won't be too particular and technical with it but nevertheless I hope you enjoy. And if you have any complaints, I'll gladly hear it out.

* * *

><p>"Ei-chan, how'd your exams go?" Rina asked Sawamura as their papers have been returned to them. The brunette stayed silent, head facing down.<p>

"Ei-chan?" Sawamura finally looked up, tears in his eyes as he showed the twin-tailed girl his exam papers. "I passed!" Although his scores were just barely passing ones, his classmates and fellow members of the baseball club didn't deny his efforts.

"That's great Sawamura-kun!" Haruno expressing her delight for the pitcher.

"Sorry Shin-chan, I left all the work to you. Since it's my first exam after transferring here to Seido I had to produce good results. Also, Rei-nee did threaten me that if I failed I had to take a break from club activities. Haha." Rina lightly laughed it off as she motioned to the blonde boy standing by her side over at Sawamura's desk.

"So, how'd you do?" Kanemaru asked. With a large grin plastered on the girl's face, she spread out her test papers on Sawamura's desk. "Thanks to you I have no problems." A perfect score in English while her she scored no lower than 90 in her other subjects respectively. Her scores rendered her male classmates speechless and amazed while on the other hand Haruno was purely impressed.

"Rina-chan, that's amazing!" Haruno exclaimed.

"Thanks Haruno-chan! If you need help with your studying next time just tell me." Rina said as she gave her friend a wink.

"Well then, I'm gonna go check on Haru-chan and Sacchan!" and there and then she ran off towards the classroom of class 1-B.

"Don't worry. They said they'll let you take make-up tests before the tournament." Haruichi was trying to comfort a pale and worried Furuya regarding his tests.

"Haru-chan, Sacchan!" She called out.

"Oi, Kominato, Furuya. Someone's looking for you."

"Rina-chan! You need something from us?" The pink-haired first year asked.

"Oh no, I was just going to ask how you guys did on your tests."

"Well…" Haruichi trailed off while Rina tilted her head in confusion. She looked over to Furuya and saw the boy's depressed state. "I did fine but as you can see Furuya-kun needs to take the make-up test."

Rina walked over to her friend and placed a hand over his shoulder. She looked at him with a kind gaze and a warm smile "Sacchan, want me to tutor you?" Furuya nodded frantically without hesitation. "We start tonight. We'll take things little by little, kay?"

-That evening-

"When faced with a problem like this, you use this equation here. The most basic thing is to locate your given values and substitute them into the equation. Then you need to solve carefully so that you won't have to repeat. If you want to check your answer though, here's what you do…" Rina was teaching Furuya some math until a knock on the door was heard. Both stopped what they were doing and looked at the door as the person who knocked proceeded with opening it himself.

"Oi Rina, Takashima-sensei is calling for you." A blonde young man was the visitor.

"Shin-chan." Rina moved to look at Furuya and said "I guess we'll have to continue this tomorrow. Sorry Sacchan!" She then moved towards the door and walked together with Kanemaru to the office. "Did Rei-nee say why she's calling for me?"

"She didn't tell me. She just told me to get you."

"Hmm… I wonder what she needs with me." The two stayed silent the whole time after the small chat and when they arrived in front of the office's door Kanemaru left her. "Thanks Shin-chan!"

"Rei-nee, you called?"

"Ah! Rina." Rina's aunt who was sitting on the sofa stood and went to grab a fairly large box. "The package your dad sent you has arrived. Here." Rina's eyes sparkled and she immediately took the box from Rei's hands.

"Thanks Rei-nee! I'm gonna go take a look at the stuff in my room. If he sent anything for you, I'll give it later." Rina, full of excitement, dashed off to her room. Once she got inside, she immediately placed the box on the floor and opened it.

"Waaaah! As expected of dad and mom. They sure know what I need." The box was filled with a few cans of cool spray, some of Rina's personal stuff, her most precious teddy bear, and lastly…

A glove.

This item surprised Rina. She didn't expect her parents to send it. Although she asked them to send her racket and a few balls they sent a different thing. Nevertheless it made her happy. She could play with the guys with her parents' consent.

Or not exactly. A letter was inside the box and when she read it, she gave out a small sigh. It was a rehabilitative training regimen for her knee. She was still off limits playing tennis but light throwing sessions have been allowed. She still had a reason to rejoice.

Rina set aside the box for the moment and instantly ran towards Sawamura's room. She slammed the door opened and shouted for Sawamura. Unfortunately, he was not in the room. The only ones present were Kuramochi and Masuko who were playing video games.

"What the!" Kuramochi yelled.

"Hm? You-chan, Tooru-senpai where's Ei-chan?"

"Oh Rina-chan. If you're looking for Sawamura-chan then he's doing the usual."

"Ah, I should've guessed… Haha! Well then please excuse me." and this time she ran towards Miyuki's room where Sawamura would probably be, pestering Miyuki to catch for him like always.

"Oi Rina, wait… Hey! Don't run stupid. Your knee… What's with the hurry anyway?" Kuramochi looked at the girl's running figure from the door but did not take the effort to run after her. Although he did saw what she had in her hands which made him think twice whether or not he would still follow after her. He just scratched the back of his head and decided to go back to the game he was playing with Masuko. Before continuing the paused game Kuramochi thought _"That idiot! Well, she is going to Miyuki's room so there should be no problem… right?"_

"Miyuki-senpai catch for me!"

"No. He's going to catch for me."

"What the hell Furuya! Why are you here anyway? I thought you were reviewing with Rina!?"

"Takashima-sensei called for her."

"Nevermind, Miyuki-senpai's gonna catch for me anyway so just go back to your room."

"No way. He's gonna catch for me."

"I'm not gonna catch for anyone! I just wanna get some sleep."

"Then, why don't I catch for you guys?" While the three boys were going over the same scene that happens every night a more than familiar voice snipped into their conversation.

"Rina. I thought Takashima-sensei called for you." Furuya asked in slight confusion.

"She just gave me the package I was waiting for. It didn't take long." Rina nonchalantly replied.

"But anyways… Tada! Look what they sent me." She showed them what she was hiding behind her back with sparkles in her eyes but for some reason, the three had sweat slide down their faces.

"What's with the unamused looks?" an irritated Rina asked while Miyuki returned her question with a sigh. "Is it okay for you to play? Won't you aggravate your injury?"

She glared at Miyuki and said "If it wasn't okay then they wouldn't have sent me this in the first place." As her gaze was getting colder, the three looked at each other and nodded. Although he felt defeated, Miyuki agreed to catch for the two just so that Rina would give up.

"Then I'll go play with Haru-chan. You stupid idiots!" and the twin-tailed brunette ran off.

"Oi Rina, wait!" Miyuki reached out a hand for her but when he saw Rina's pained expression who just stood there frozen.

"You two… just go to sleep tonight already. I lost the mood to catch."

"O… okay." Furuya and Sawamura reluctantly abide as their minds were filled with worry for their female friend right now but they concluded it was better to leave her alone. If she did go to Haruichi then she'd be fine. After her secret came out, Haruichi has been able to become stricter with her. They know he won't let her push herself too much.

"Everyone's too protective… This was exactly why I tried to hide my injury. I'm glad that my parents are letting me play baseball (although on a light basis) but do those guys know the feeling of not being able to play the sports you absolutely love!? I miss playing tennis so much that here I am trying to distract myself with their favorite baseball…" Rina muttered as she wiped off the fresh tears that are falling from her eyes.

"Whatever. I guess I'll just resign myself to my room tonight." and that last thing she let out was a sigh as she arrived at the door of her room. She threw herself to the bed and fell asleep instantly after experiencing the flurry of emotions that rushed over her this evening.

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><p>What can you guys say about Rina this time? Did you notice her vulnerable side? I tried to make it as obvious as possible XD haha. I plan to post two more bonusfiller chapters before going back to my main plot line but may the bonus/filler chapters satisfy your desire to see how they interact on normal days. I tried to make it out as how someone requested. :D


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